October 2020

The idea of this trip was to go to the bakery on the Harbour Arm called Dockers and a walk across to get some seafood from one of the stalls on the opposite side of the harbour.

After bread buying from the bakery housed in a group of lorry containers we had a coffee at the Harbour Coffee and then along the Arm to see what was open. Not a lot at this stage of the morning.

Folkestone Harbour Arm

Folkestone Harbour Arm Good Van

On the entrance the arm is part of the huge concrete bulkhead where the ship moored. On it is a rather odd yellow sign... Telling us it is a..... Large Concrete Structure!!!

As you can see the Harbour Arm has a railway line. Next door is the old Folkestone Harbour Station. A loop line used to leave the main London to Dover line after Folkstone Central station and curve round and down to the town, crossing the harbour on a viaduct and into the station.

The trains arrived to meet the Boat/Train ferries operated by British Railways and then the passengers passed through customs and onto the ferry for the journey across to Boulogne.

Such a shame that the ferry service ended some years ago, Boulogne is so much nicer than Calais!

Recently the station has been the subject of renovation and hopefully some of the rooms will be opened but at the moment signal box is used at a cafe.

I took a few photos on my phone.

Folkestone Harbour Station and Signal Box

Folkestone Harbour Station the sea end of Platform 2

Folkestone Harbour Station along Platform 1

Folkestone Harbour Station and Signal Box - view towards town

Folkestone Harbour Station Platform 2 Triennial Art on Beach

Folkestone Harbour Station Statue of the Travellers

Folkestone Harbour Station Sign

From here we walked across the pedestrianised viaduct to the other side of the harbour so that we could visit Bob's Seafood to get a prawn and seafood mix to have on our Dockers baguette.

A short trip out from home, but staycations don't have to mean staying in your own country and travelling mils and miles.

So where next?

Sadly there are no bluebirds to fly over the White Cliffs of Dover. There never were any. There are however magpies and jackdaws. The corvids supplement their diet by scavenging amongst the tables outside the visitor centre and café; there are always crumbs and things to purloin.

Our visit today was to have a walk in the autumn sunshine and give Reggie, our Patterdale X, a walk where he can get his nose around new smells.

It is also our 20th Wedding Anniversary. Much better weather than on that day back in 2000.

As members of the National Trust we get in free to all their sites, although "free" comes after we have paid to be members. As seniors we do save a couple of pounds each year.

Dover is about 15 miles from our house, so this was definitely a staycation day. Despite it being a weekday and October, there were a lot of people enjoying the walks across the top of the cliffs from the parking and visitor centre.

Our first stop was as usual for coffee and as it is a special occasion Claire bought a sausage roll each. Reggie has his own water and treats that I carry on my back! Sometimes going out with a dog is like going equipped for a baby. Poo bags instead of nappies (diapers to the non UK)

We set off via the car to pick up that gear and then took the cliff edge walk. After Storm Alex last week and into the weekend I had expected it to be much muddier and more slippery but the chalk path was okay. Some of the other steps cut into the chalk were very wet and muddy.

Luckily we didn't meet anyone else on the narrow bits. The drop to the right is only about 75 feet onto a lower ledge that is quite wide. You would have be a a complete idiot to find yourself in the sea!

The first part of the walk overlooks Dover Eastern Docks. This is where the ferries from France come in and leave from. Despite Covid-19 and various lockdowns the movement of trucks seems to be unabated.

There is also a really good view of Dover Castle.

Our walk took us along Langdon Cliff until we got to the muddy bit. Despite being in walking boots we opted to turn back and take the higher route but not before taking a few photos of the famous White Cliffs.

Remains of the wartime buildings

The Trust uses ponies to keep the grasslands natural and we were lucky to come across a few of them on the way back. Reggie doesn't really react to farm animals but as instructed we keep him on a lead in case he decides to act differently one day!

From here it was back to the visitor centre for a loo break and Claire to visit the shop. Reg and I had a wander across the entry road as he isn't allowed in the shop. Not that he'd want to buy anything anyway, and of course, he doesn't have any money ….

Visitor Centre

Reggie Exploring

And then home. A nice few hours on the English coast and it didn't rain.

Oddly when I got home I noticed my phone had received a message whilst I was out. It was from Tesco Mobile welcoming me to France. Err. France. I was about 22 miles from France on the White Cliffs.

The museum is located off the M42 in Warwickshire. and it spread over several buildings. There are exhibits that you wouldn't normally find in most car museums, and that's what makes this one unique.

There are prototypes as well as the ugly reasons why many of the British motor manufacturers went bust. If you think the Allegro was a lovely car, then you will certainly love this place.

You may think that the rush to get rid of the internal combustion engine (ICE) is a new fad, but it's not. In the UK we had electric vehicles delivering milk for many years, and then the twisted brain of someone came up with this monstrosity.

There are some beautiful examples of cars at the right end of the spectrum and some that should have been destroyed before they ever made it off the "designers" table.....

Beautiful MG prototype

Jenson FF

More information can be found on the museum's own website.

More photos from the trip.